Reeling distributor



C. O. BRUESTLE REJELING DISTR Dec. 11, 1956 IBUTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 24, 1955 INVENTOR.

C421 0. fi/wasnf JQLA 1956 c. o. BRUESTLE REELING DISTRIBUTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 24, 1955 F. J an w m5 M N a E E 0 Vfi H M A O A Q G Dec. 11, 1956 c. o BRUESTLE REELING DISTRIBUTOR 3 Sheets$heet 5 Filed Aug. 24, 1955 IN VEN TOR. CARL 0 [5/91/5745 ATTORNEYS United States Patent O REELING DISTRIBUTOR Carl 0. Bruestle, Metuchen, N. J., assignor to Syucro Machine Company, Perth Amboy, N. .L, a corporation of New Jersey Application August 24, 1955, Serial No. 530,247

8 Claims. (Cl. 74--89) This invention consists of improvements ina distributing device used to lay the turns of strands being reeled in a smooth even layer.

The structure herein disclosed is especially adapted for the handling of very large strands such as heavy rope and large insulated electrical conductors. It will be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that the subject matter of this invention does not have a size limitation.

The main object of the invention is to provide an improved smoother acting device of this type in which the ratchet acting mechanism commonly used to traverse the strand guide has been replaced by a pair of oppositely acting one-way clutches.

An important object of the invention is to provide a more rugged mechanism of different type especially adapted for the handling of very heavy cable and rope.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism of this type in which adjustment can be easily effected by a single control for the handling of a wide range of strand diameter.

Other and more detailed objects of the invention will be apparent from the following disclosure of the embodiment thereof illustrated in the attached drawings.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of the mechanism of the invention with parts broken away to facilitate illustration;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view on the line 2--"2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of Figure 1.

The traversing guide mechanism of this invention as illustrated is adapted to be associated with a strand reeling machine and is interposed between the point of strand supply and the reel position. The purpose, of course, is to deliver strands of various sizes to the reel or cable drum along a helical path adjusted as to pitch so that the strand will be laid onto the core of cable drum in smooth layers comprising contiguous convolutions. This, of course, is well understood in this art but the purpose of reference thereto is to emphasize that the structure herein disclosed can be adjusted by a single controlto effect these results with a wide range of strand diameters.

As illustrated, the mechanism includes suitable supporting frameworks and 12 preferably built up of U- beams and plates secured together as by welding for example. These frameworks 10 and 12 are positioned in the same vertical plane and are separated by sufficient space to accommodate them to the reel dimensions encountered in practice. Extending between these frameworks is a heavy U-channel 14 which is secured thereto as, for example, by bolts as shown.

Secured to the outside face of the left-hand U-beam of the. framework 10 is a base plate 16 onto which is bolted 2,773,391 Patented Dec. 11, 1956 ice a frame 18. As shown in Figure 2, this frame has a. forwardly projecting arm 20 providing a bearing journal for one end of the lead screw shaft 22. The other end of this shaft is journalled in a bearing assembly 28 secured to the beam 14. Any suitable bearing structures including the necessary thrust bearings will be used in accordance with good engineering practice. Secured near the left--hand end of the shaft 22 is a bevel. gear 24 which meshes with a bevel gear 94. On the extreme left-hand end of shaft 22 is a hand wheel 26.

Referring to Figure 4, it will be seen that there is secured along the top and bottom flanges of the U-channel 14 as by welding a pair of support bars 30 and 32 Secured to the vertical faces of these bars so as to lie in the same plane are a pair of rails 34 and 36 in the form of bars. A plate 38 forms the base for the carriage which supports the strand guide proper. Plate 38 is provided with a pair of reinforcing gussets 40 which are welded to the plate and to another plate 42 which lies horizontal as shown. The plates 38 and 42 and reinforcing gussets 40 provide the carriage assembly which is supported on the rails 34 and 36 by an upper pair of trolley wheels 44 and a lower trolley wheel 46 (see Fig 34 and 36 respectively the plate 42 is provided with a.

pivot bearing support 54 on which the strand guide assembly 52 is pivotally mounted in accordance with known constructions. Briefly, this guide assembly includes a pair of parallel rollers mounted on vertical axes in spaced relation so that they can be turned to various positions in a vertical plane to effectively vary the width of the space through which the strand being guided passes so as to constrain it to move along the correct axial path.

Secured adjacent the opposite ends of the lower rail 36 are a pair of limit switch assemblies 134 and 136 having operating levers aligned to be alternately engaged by the ends of a camming bar 56 mounted on the carriage (see Figures 1 and 4). As shown, the limit switches 134 and 136 are part of clamp assemblies which can be moved to various positions along the rail 36 and locked thereat by means of the thumb screws 138 and 140. The limit switches 134 and 136 are spring biased so as to be in the position shown in the case of switch 134 when not engaged by the camming bar 56. They are moved to actuated position by the camming bar against the spring biasing as indicated in the case of switch 136.

Secured to the face of plate 38 adjacent the lead screw shaft 22 is a cage 58 which confines a threaded nut 60 engaging the lead screw shaft 22; It will be easily understood that when the shaft 22 revolves the nut 60 will travel along it in a direction depending upon the direction of rotation of the shaft 22 thereby causing the guide carriage to move axially of the shaft 22 in one or the other direction.

Returning to Figure 2, the bracket 18 is provided at the rear with a pair of parallel extensions 62 providing bearing journals for a stub shaft 64. Secured to this shaft between the brackets 62 is a driving sprocket wheel 66. Threadedly mounted on the free end of the shaft 64 is an adjusting knob 68 which is confined against axial movement on the shaft by means of a bolt 70 which permits rotation of the knob 68. Slidably mounted on the shaft 64 is a sleeve 72 threadedly engaging the knob 68 and prevented from turning on the shaft by means of a key. It will be seen that the sleeve 72 can thus be caused to move axially of shaft 64 in either direction by proper directional rotation ofthe knob 68. Secured to the sleeve 72 is a pointer disc 74 arranged tocooperate with a suitably calibrated scale on the indicator arm 76. This indicator arm is secured to another bracket 84 on the fixture 18. Sleeve 72 is provided with a flange having a radial notch in which one end of a link 78 is pivotally mounted. The other end of this link is pivotally connected to agrooved disc 80 which, as will be seen later, serves as a wobble plate. The disc 80 has a simple passage so that it can be telescoped on the shaft 64 and is connected thereto by means of a pivot pin 82.

In addition to the arm 84, fixture 18 has a parallel lower arm 86. Journalled in these arms are the hubs of the housings 88 and 90 of a pair of one-way clutches. These clutches may take many forms and are available in commerce in widely diflierent forms. They are sometimes termed overrunning clutches and are of the type that will drive in one direction of rotation but are overrunning or non-driving in the opposite direction. In the assembly of this mechanism this pair of clutches are of the type which will have their driving function in opposite rotational directions. Journalled in the housings 88 and 90 is a shaft 92, to the lower end of which is secured the bevel gear 94 previously mentioned. As will appear later, the housings 88 and 90 are the driving portions of the clutches and the driven portions 96 and 98, respectively, are keyed to the shaft 92 by means of the key 100. Secured to or formed on the peripheries of the housings 88 and 90 are a pair of notched rings 114 and 116. These rings are like gears with square teeth and provide a series of uniform and uniformly spaced circumferential notches.

A pair of sleeves 102 and 104 lie between the arms 84 and 86 and the shoulders of the housings 88 and 90 and are unconnected to these housings. Bolted at diametrically oipposed points on the sleeves 102 and 104 are a pair of parallel plates 106 and 108 which are positioned on opposite sides of the wobble plate 80. The adjacent ends of these plates are provided with pins 110 and 112 which engage in the peripheral groove of the plate 80, but, of course, are not connected to the pin 82 which supports the plate 80.

Secured to the outer face of the plate 108 are a pair of brackets or housings 118 and 120 in which are respectively mounted a pair of solenoids 122 and 124. These solenoids are provided with spring-loaded plungers 126 and 128, urged by the springs left (Figure 3) and are pivotally connected respectively to the latches 130 and 132. These latches project through complementary shaped openings in the plate 108 so as to be engageable with the notched rings 114 and 116.

A description of the operation of this mechanism will clarify the construction and function of this device.

Sprocket wheel 66 is driven from any part of the cable reeling machine, that is, the machine which rotates the cable drum, at a constant and properly proportioned speed of rotation as will be understood in the art. Sprocket wheel 66 of course causes shaft 64 to rotate with it. If the knob 68 has adjusted wobble plate 80 to a vertical position as shown in Figure 2, it is apparent that its rotation will not have any effect on the remainder of the mechanism because the pins 110 and 112 will ride in the groove in the plate without any reaction on those pins. However, if knob 68 is adjusted to some other position along the scale on the indicator 76, wobble plate 80 will be tipped on the axis of pin 80 and hence its peripheral groove will travel in a path which is for one-half of its revolution at one side of the vertical axis and for the other half at the other side. Pins 110 and 112 will be given a similar rocking movement with the result that the framework comprising the plates 106 and 108 and the sleeves 102 and 104 will oscillate on the axis of shaft 92. Assuming that one of the latches 130 and 132 is engaged with its associated tooth ring 114 and 116 and the other is disengaged, it will be apparent that for one direction of oscillation of this frame the connected housing of the related clutch will be similarly oscillated. Simply for purposes of illustration, it is assumed that latch engages ring 114 and latch 132 is disengaged from ring 116. Assuming further that the frame which includes plate 108 is being oscillated towards the observer out of the plane of Figure 3 it is apparent that the connected clutch housing 88 will move with it. If this particular clutch engages for that range of rotation it follows shaft 92 and hence double gear 94 will be similarly rota-ted. It follows, therefore, that the lead shaft 22 will be driven through the bevel pinions 24. The rotation of lead screw 22 will cause nut 60 to move, for example, from the right towards the left (Figure 1) carrying the carriage and guide assembly 52 with it. This action will continue until the camming bar 56 on the carriage strikes the operating lever of the left-hand limit switch 134. The guide assembly 52 will, therefore, guide the cable which passes therethrough into a series of contiguous convolutions from a layer on the drum of the cable reel. It is assumed, of course, that knob 68 has been properly adjusted for the particular size of cable being reeled.

When the carriage reaches the extreme limit of its travel to the left, limit switch 134 will be actuating to energize solenoid 122 and withdraw latch 130 from engagement with the toothed ring 114. Simultaneously and by means of a support obvious to one skilled in this art, solenoid 124 which has been energized throughout the previously described operation will be de-energized and the spring loading on plunger 128 will cause latch 132 to engage the notched ring 116. As soon as this happens, the lower clutch will begin to oscillate shaft 92 in the opposite direction with the result that lead screw 22 will cause the carriage to travel from its extreme lefthand position back to its' extreme right-hand position. When the carriage reaches that position which is illustrated in Figure 1, limit switch 136 will be actuated to reverse the circuit connections to render the lower clutch inoperative and the upper clutch active again. Thus as the cable is reeled up on the drum, the carriage oscillates back and forth to lay layer after layer in smooth contiguous convolution.

It is apparent that the carriage will be caused to have a very uniform step-by-step movement traversely of the cable path, first in one direction and then in the opposite direction. The rate at which the carriage traverses the cable path is very simply determined by the degree to which the wobble plate is tipped. If desired, the scale on the indicator 76 can be directly calibrated in cable sizes so that even an unskilled operator can be used.

In order to move the cable guide assembly to some particular position for any reason, there needs only to be provided an auxiliary circuit to energize both of the solenoids 122 and 124 independently of the limit switches so as to release shaft 92 for free movement in either di rection whereupon the lead screw 22 can be rotated by the hand wheel 26.

It is, of course, apparent that by mounting thelimit switch assemblies in the manner described they can be adjusted to any desired positions traversely of the cable path to adapt the operation of the mechanism to cable drums of varying width.

From the above description, it will be apparent that mechanics skilled in this art will readily think of many variations in the details of the construction of the device disclosed and since the particular details are for illustrative purposes only it is intended that the scope of the invention not be limited to those illustrated.

What is claimed is:

'1. In a traversing mechanism of the type described a rotatably supported lead-screw shaft, means forming a guideway, a carriage movable on said guideway means and a driving connection between said shaft and carriage in combination with means for rotating said shaft in either direction comprising a power driven wobble plate, a pair of oppositely acting clutches having a driving connection with said shaft and means for selectively connecting said clutches to said Wobble plate.

2. In the combination of claim 1, said means for rotating .said shaft including an oscillatable frame and said selecting means including a pair of electromagnetically operative iatches for connecting said clutches respectively to said frame.

3. In the combination of claim 1, said means for ll'O- tating said shaft including an oscil-lata-ble frame and said selecting means including a pair of electromagnetica'lly operative latches for connecting said clutches respectively to said frame, said frame having a driving connection with said wobble plate.

4. In the combination of claim 1, said last means including control devices actuated by said carriage.

5. In the combination of claim 1, said means for no tating said shaft including means for adjusting the stroke of said wobble plate.

6. In the combination of claim 1, a power driven shaft arranged axially of said wobble plate and means for changing the angular position of the wobble plate with regard to said shaft to vary the rate of rotation of said lead-screw shaft.

7. In a traversing mechanism of the type described in the combination with a reciprocal carriage and a rotatahle lead-screw shaft operatively connected to said carriage, means for rotating said lead-screw shaft in adjustabl-e increments in either direction comprising a drive shaft coupled to said lead-screw shaft, a cage oscillator on the axis of said drive shaft, a pair of oppositely acting clutches for selectively rotating said drive shaft in either direction and means for oscillating said cage including the power driven wobble plate.

8. In the combination of claim 7', means for adjusting the stroke of said wobble plate.

No references cited. 

